Useful Pages

Friday, February 27, 2009

The Wellesley Free Library now has a Career Center, featuring resources to help you jump-start your new career. Resume books are the most popular at the moment, so here's a short selection of some titles to help you revamp or write your resume:

Thursday, February 26, 2009

The name of this database is enough to entice me to take a look at it! For those who need to know more about this reference tool which bills itself as The Ultimate Guide to the World before trying it out, here are some facts for you.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Plug in a zip code or click on a map to find the closest independent bookstores to you. Indie.org (developed by the American Booksellers Association) is promoting independent stores of all kinds through this easy store locator. And don't forget to take a look at their book lists and best seller lists at theirBookWeb site.--RL

Thursday, February 19, 2009

You can now broaden your horizons and learn up to 12 new languages with Wellesley's new database, Mango Language Instruction. Available to Wellesley cardholders from a home computer, you may access Mango by simply going to our homepage at http://www.mln.lib.ma.us and clicking on Databases. Register with your email and a password to begin learning Spanish, French, Japanese, Dutch, Brazilian Portuguese, Greek, Italian, Russian, Mandarin Chinese and more.

Immerse yourself in a conversational style from the very beginning of the course and be prepared to ask directions, call for a taxi, read a subway map or order a coffee in the destination of your choice.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

This year we are celebrating the Bicentennial of the birth of Abraham Lincoln, our country's 16th President. You may have noticed a flurry of publications about his life and his presidency. However, there are some titles, old and new, that stand out as the best, and we own ALL of them. So take some time and put a request in for one of the titles so you can understand why this man is so highly regarded.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Many people have written us wondering what factoids are. Apparently there are two slightly contradictory definitions. The primary definition is that factoids are pseudo-facts, i.e. they look like facts but are not actually true. (Stephen Colbert might say they lack a little truthiness.) Another definition that has gained some ground is that of a completely meaningless fact (or factlet as William Safire would have it). For more on the subject read the Wikipedia entry on factoids.--RL

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Can't wait for the movie Confessions of a Shopaholic to come out this week? Of course, you knew the film is based on the book of the same name. In fact, there's a whole Shopaholic series of books, all by Sophie Kinsella, which are in the Wellesley Free Library's collection.

In this sobering time of recession, live vicariously through the character of Becky Bloomwood -- or roll your eyes at her -- but get a few laughs in the process:

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Are you a nosy neighbor? Do you want to know how much your neighbors paid for their house? Well, there are several ways to find out. http://www.zillow.com/ has some recent sale data. Another great source which we like to use is the Norfolk County Registry of Deeds website:

On this site, you can search recorded land records -- deeds, mortgages, and other documents -- for Wellesley and for any other Norfolk County town. The best way to search is by name, but you can also do some searching by street address.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Podcasts have only been around for the past four years or so but they've revolutionized the way radio, among other media, are delivered to you for your listening (and viewing) pleasure. If you don't already know what podcasts are, check out this helpful video below, "Podcasting in Plain English"

Podcasts have created an environment where radio stations, newspapers, television stations, etc. can put their products online for people to listen to or view at their leisure. It has also created a cheap and easy way for anyone else to create their own radio show for the world to enjoy. The range of offerings is diverse, from NPR's classical music broadcasts, to authors discussing their latest book, to high school students' news productions.

If you're interested in podcasts, you might start by downloading a podcast player such as iTunes or Juice. After you've installed these programs you can start hunting for your favorite topics or radio broadcasts. iTunes already has a directory of podcasts within the program but if you're interested in looking for something new or different, you might try a few of these sites: